Health & Fitness
'On the Water:' The Mt. Hope Bridge
Bridge construction in Portsmouth is nothing new. A private company finished the $4 million Mt. Hope Bridge just before the 1929 market crash.
As automobiles became more common, the Bristol Ferry became less practical. The state of Rhode Island would not build a bridge, but private investors began construction in 1927. Â
has a very interesting record of the construction of the bridge. The engineer of the project took pictures of the the various stages of construction and they were included in a commemorative "Camera Studies" book that the Honnen Family donated to the historical society. Â Copies of these images as well as two of the original lights from the Mt. Hope Bridge are on display during the "On the Water" exhibit. Â
At a cost of $4 million dollars, the 6,130 foot suspension bridge was the longest bridge in New England when it opened on October 24, 1929. Unfortunately for the owners, the stock market crashed days later and Rhode Island, along with the rest of the nation, faced the Depression. The state of Rhode Island finally took over the bridge in 1955. Â